The more things evolve and change the more there is a constant. Everything in a company that's greater in size than the founder, is all about people (your employees) and process (how they get stuff done). Even flying solo, it's about that stuff too (you have customers, and they expect things).

I came across the following request this week on a ListServ on which I participate. The question, and my answer, relate to the discipline of knowledge management, or KM. I've paraphrased a bit on the question.

The Question:

Up until now, our company has not focused much on sharing valuable information and thus have missed some opportunities to save, to work more effectively, etc. In order to avoid this in the future, we would like to increase knowledge sharing. We do have some tools in place already, such as monthly newsletters, commercial newsletters, meetings, sharepoints, etc, however they are still not very effective.

Could anyone with some knowledge management experience/expertise give me some ideas how to make relevant information circulated and reach the people who need it?

My Response:

First, a couple of questions that you need to ask:

1. What do you mean by “not effective”, regarding your existing tools? Do you mean that you have some efficiency metrics in place and you’re not meeting them and you think that the KM is part of the issue? Are you basing this on ‘usage’ reports of the KM tools?
2. Have you articulated the goals of the KM solutions from the stakeholder perspective? Do you know what your KM users want from the system? Where have the ideas for your current solutions come from?
3. What type of training/evangelism/education have been done to get after the issue of ‘rolling out’ and ‘increasing adoption’ of the existing tools?

I’ve worked with KM in a couple of companies and I have a few thoughts to share generally on the topic.

Seek out why the users need a system like this and what will bring them the most value in using it. In some instances, I have seen adoption take years, while in others, it takes a matter of weeks. There is often a need to ‘cut over’ to a KM system of record and away from current methods. For example, if your salespeople are used to just calling someone to have them send brochures, put those brochures in the KM database (or Wiki, or Blog, or something similar) and enforce that as the only way to retrieve the info they need do a deep dive into the feature set that you users want and deliver on the highest value items. This is like marketing. You’re trying to make a product (tool) that’s ‘buzzworthy’ that everyone is just so eager to use. That is hard work to make the tool accessible in the ‘mode of work’ that your users find themselves in. Of course, it has to be web based in one mode, but if you have remote workers (travelers) who are not connected to the web, is the tool available for offline use as well? If you’re looking for ‘bottom up’ knowledge sharing or are trying to ‘crowdsource’ from your employees, think about motivation. What motivates them to contribute? How can you motivate them to contribute. Take a look at some of the popular message boards (Apple, and other technical products along with the MarketingProfs and AMA SIGS) and see what makes them tick.

There’s books & a ton of resources devoted to KM. I would suggest a quick tour through Amazon to see what’s out there and to do some Googling and look at the blogs of KM folks who have some insights to share. Lastly, look into brining on a KM consultant to help launch your project. It could save you several missed attempts at getting things right and seeing ROI out of the gate.

What's the net of all this?

There's a lot of 'change management' in everything we do as daily business in our companies. The question was first one about 'technology' but it's really an issue of process, people, and changing both.

How ironic that I'm posting about this from outside the Starbucks inside the Chicago Merchandise Mart in advance of some morning meetings....

Steve Rubel linked to an interesting article in USA today about the "third place" worker. While I have a home office that I spend a significant amount of hours in, I have to admit that I'm a member of the "third place work club", the few of us that there are in Green Bay, WI.

At first, I thought that this was just a guilty pleasure. I've been working from coffee shops since my first sales job in 1999. I spent almost every evening at one of the two Starbucks on Second Street in Long Beach, well before there was Wi-Fi in every coffee shop. I was just happy to get a change of scenery.

Now, it appears that there's a whole workforce that not only takes a break for a change of pace, but calls their office home by the name of Starbucks, Peets, or some other independent coffee house or eatery. My habits have changed a bit. Being a home office worker, it's tough to get away from the luxury of a printer and speaker phone. I rarely venture out during "business hours", but early mornings and late afternoons are usually fair game, and they also happen to be the times when the cafes I frequent are least busy...w/ most folks not out of bed yet in the AM, and the college students out for dinner in the afternoons. Trying to get a table anywhere at high-noon is usually a futile and frustrating exercise anyway.

Even Om Malik, the esteemed journalist/entrepreur, is a regular third place worker. "Working out of cafes in San Francisco, or roaming Silicon Valley is by now second nature", says Om. It's good to see that we're among such smart company!

If you're among the "Kinko's Generation" and new to the "Third-Place Club", have a look at the "Cafe Ettiquette" sidebar items in the article, or my adapted list below.

CAFE ETIQUETTE (via USA Today)

* Tip big and eat often. Think of those hourly lattes or scones as rent for your table, payment of which is critical for the survival of any business welcoming busy squatters.
* Make friends with the staff. Get to know them, and they'll get to know you, and watch out for you. This is especially helpful in busy times, when you want a clean table.
* Take your cell phone outside. Keep cellphones and PDAs on vibrate, and when they do buzz, head straight for the door.
* Don't be a hog. It's fine to keep your things piled on a table when you step out for a breath of fresh air, but not if you plan to be away a while.
* Bring a computer lock, or make 'cafe buddies' who you trust to watch your stuff, and you theirs. This has worked for years for me...knock on wood! Careful who you trust.

There's a local advertising guru here in Green Bay who sends out a thoughtful and readable newsletter every Wednesday. I never miss an issue, because he tells such great stories that relate to marketing, advertising and business...things that I love to read about.

Joe's issue this Wednesday focused on the advice of an old sage on leadership and hiring. We should all be so wise. Or, we should all be such idiots.

Although Wolfgang had obviously tipped back a few long before I had arrived, his message was consistent with people I’ve heard speak, including Jack Welsh and Michael Gerber. Wolfgang said, “The great leader is an idiot! They realize that they don’t have the answers and they surround themselves with people who are much smarter than they are. The great leader of a company has two decisions…YES or NO. That’s it! They inspire people to develop great ideas and the leader says, yes pursue that or don’t develop that.”

He went on to say, “Always be hiring. If you find that dynamic person find a way to get them on board. Take out a loan if you have to. They’ll make you look good!” Wolfgang eventually invited Danica and me, along with his friends, to his ‘cottage’ in Fish Creek. He definitely has done well, that’s for sure.

I know, if you've read this, you've read it a thousand times. However, it only seems to get more true every time I read it!

Caught this little snippet of wisdom on David Maister's blog this week.

Always volunteer to take the minutes of meetings, and to do the first drafts of proposed initiatives or reports. Not only will you get credit for volunteering to do things on behalf of others, but you get control of what's recorded. You are now part of the decision-making process. He or she who writes the history gets to make history.

I've been doing this for years, basically as a mechanism to curb my introvertedness in new settings (and familiar ones). Introverts typically like things to do to keep them engaged when they'd rather turn inward. Turns out, there are added benefits, like being part of writing history.

The blog world is still the something like the wild, wild west as it relates to employer policy on blogging about work. Talking about your employer, or co-workers, even in generic terms can get you sacked, as several people found out in 2004. It stands to reason that most of these folks were doing things that they shouldn't have been doing, saying things they shouldn't have been saying or just being plain stupid. I feel a gap widening here between the individual, the corporation and the media. The gap can only be filled, in my opinion, by a strong dosage of media awareness on the part of the individual.

To that end, I submit that it corporations would be well served to include a brief segment on 'media awareness' or 'interacting in an Internet-induced consumer generated media world' in the onboarding of each and every new hire. Further, existing employees should be required to at least view a video or go through an online tutorial on the subject, similar to how we have to go through sexual harassment training.

I think that this is required for several reasons:

1. The average employee still does not understand the power of the Internet and does not fully grasp the power of the media in today's climate
   
2. Most people have never dealt with the media, and the media are only getting more savvy - everyone in your company should know how to deflect media inquiries and handle themselves in front of the media
   
3. Google, archived newsgroups, and social networking sites are not yet understood by the masses and they're being used, right or wrong, to make decisions in the corporate and media world - people need to know about these things.
   
4. People can loose their jobs over something that they didn't know was an issue (granted, stupidity usually plays a part, but the innocent can be affected to...unless they're educated)
   

In relation to blogging, it may make sense to include a specific reference to this or include a prohibition on miscalling the employer outside work in a public forum.

Whilst some might think that this would be obvious, it might do no harm to spell it out in plain language to cut down on the possibilities for misunderstandings. From [Scotsman.com - Avoid getting blogged down in e-etiquette]

See also - Write & wrongs: Bloggers run into trouble

Steve Pavlina, CEO, Dexterity Software writes a concise treatise on how he uses his system to get more done with less time. Worth a read.

[via the XPLANE bBlog]

"A lot of people worry about the specific skill sets that go into their bag. I don't care what skill set you get, but if one way or another over a 10- or 12-year period, you develop the ability to lead, have genuine self-confidence, realize you're no better than anyone else, can motivate people and help them realize what their true potential is, you're going to go to the moon."

[via Chief Executive: Route to the Top: White-Collar Climb]

The trends identified below based on experiences with several large organizations will give you a hint of what's coming and how to prepare for the next wave in your intranet's evolution. Be careful, some of these trends may already be moving across your organization. Make sure that you're ready for them.

There is good news on the weblogging front too, employee weblogs are transforming how organizations perceive, interact, value and share information. The emphasis is moving away from searching for specific pieces of information occasionally to scanning information across a variety of sources (primarily weblogs) on a daily basis. This weblog phenomenon reduces the importance of information retrieval while raising knowledge levels across the whole organization.

1. Intranets return to the domain of the departments
   
2. The records management and the legal departments get involved
   
3. All employees become intranet publishers
   
4. The corporate telephone directory loses its luster
   
5. The new killer app -- the knowledge management tool
   
6. Real time information delivery becomes a priority
   
7. Information retrieval remains unsolved but there's hope
   
8. Employees demand a more aesthetic user experience
   
9. ISO compliance mandates make your Intranet the last word on processes and procedures

While there are exceptions, most workers need a good amount of uninterrupted quiet time to do their work. If you're struggling hard to shut people out, you're not able to give full attention to the task.

Short of redesigning your work space, or moving to a company with a better physical environment, there are ways to get some quiet time on the job.

• Sending all phone calls directly to voicemail
  
• Wearing ear plugs or headphones to screen out office sounds
  
• Alerting workers you're on a tight deadline and need to be left alone for a few hours
  
• Book a conference room for a while and take your work there
  
• Work from home

[via The Buffalo News, Thanks to Worthwhile]

Doing regular (read: weekly) 1-on-1 meetings with each member of your team is one of the most effective ways to ensure that you're maximizing the potential of your staff and staying plugged in to their work lives so that you can be a more effective leader for your people. Below are a few ideas that I'm applying to my 1-on-1 meetings/coaching sessions that I thought might be of value.

• Establish objectives for each series of 1-on-1 meetings. Know what it is that you want to get out of the meetings, and be sure to share your agenda with each team member. As with anything, that has to do with coaching and incentives, you might want to customize this agenda for each member of your team.
  
• Focus on outcomes for the employee. Whether they be a skill improvement, a new problem solving tool, or anything else that helps them, focus on their benefit. Help your team to help you.
  
• Make sure that education is on your agenda. Do a role play, introduce a new problem solving technique, assign reading material that you can discuss next week, and hand off projects with a learning objective as a component of what your associate is tasked with doing. The goal here is continuous education and improvement.
  
• Help your employees to catalog wins and build a personal portfolio of successes. Especially if your's is an organization that affords lateral mobility, be sure that you're employee is tracking with the personal branding trends and keeping score accordingly.
  
• Conduct regular 'fit evaluations' on how the associate's role fits into the greater picture and draw out the impact that your associate has on your team, department, division, and company as a whole. Everyone needs context and a frame of reference to understand their impact and ability to make a difference.
  
• Focus on skill building exercises during some of your 1-on-1 sessions. Build skills together.
  
• Become a "corporate team recruiter" and evangelist for your people. If there are initiatives that you feel one of your team members would be well suited for, work on their behalf to get on that team. Get as many of your people as possible into positions where they're able to contribute to the greater good of the organization on a regular basis, outside of your own team.

A recent survey from Steelcase asked, "If you could change the color of your workspace what would you do?" An overwhelming number of respondents (76%) selected the answer "brighten it up." Other answers included 6.9% "tone it down" and 16.4% "leave it alone."

Given some of the constraints on corporate cubes, most of us can't re-paint the walls, so to speak, but there are somethings that we can do to make the scenery a bit more interseting.

Here are a few ideas from Steelcase's survey:

• Put old photos in new frames.
  
• Put a small rug under your desk.
  
• Rearrange things.
  
• Purchase some colorful pens and pencils.
  
• Set out a dish with colorful candy or healthy treats.
  
• Use a textured container (wicker, metal etc.) for accessories.
  
• Place a cool piece of sculpture on a bookshelf.
  
• Get a brightly colored coffee cup.
  
• Add a mat or simple frame to a child’s drawing.
  
• Brew a new brand of coffee.
  
• Bring in a small "homey" desk lamp.
  
• Replace the old mouse or wrist pad.
  
• Dust.
  
• Display a fun calendar.

I've also found some great ideas by paging through the catalogs of Crate & Barrel, Restoration Hardware, Pottery Barn, IKEA, and Room and Board. The sets in those catalogs are usually designed by professionals and can give you great insight into what goes together and prompt some new ideas for you.

Being a manager in new organization can be a challenge, especially when there are generation and experience gaps to bridge. I've put together the following list of questions that I ask all of my directs to get an idea of who they are, and where they're headed, and most importantly, what their expectations are!

Please add to this list via comments if you've had similar experiences or have additional ideas/questions!

1. How long have you been with the company?
   
2. What does a day in the life of your job look like?
   
3. What do you like most about what you do?
   
4. What keeps you here?
   
5. Generally, what are you looking for in a leader (manager)?
   a. What are your expectations of me, as your leader (manager)?
   
6. Has anything changed about the management structure here?
   a. What was the former management structure prior to my arrival?
   b. What did you like/dislike about it?
   
7. What frustrates you at work? Give me an example of a particular incident.
   
8. What other departments have you worked in at this organization?
   
9. Part of my role here, as your leader, is to do what I can to set you up for success. Is there anything (within reason) that I can do for you right now?
   
10. I noticed that from your last IDP (individual development plan) you were going to be working more on __________. How is that coming along?

    
    

Cutting Through cites an interesting statement from Stowe Boyd that I take issue with, on the uptake of Social Networking Systems within organizations. Below is Stowe's thought on why the uptake has been slow, and following are my thoughts on where I feel there's a disconnect.

Management would rather use techniques that don’t work than techniques they don’t understand. Social networking often causes unsettling situations where it’s the junior people in the organisation that end up with the most karma / whuffie / swarmth. Social systems are often rejected because they’re perceived to be uncontrolled

Which, brings us to the management end of things. Understand the much social networking already does exist in orgs, though not through the tools like LinkedIn or Friendster. What does exist is an informal, outside-the-org-chart network that speeds the corporate process along for those that are connected. Many of us who’ve spent time around corporations, know, at the drop of a hat, the answer to “what does this manager do?�

As part of the rampup process at the new gig that I've undertaken, much of what I'm tasked with learning involves the heavy use of acronyms. It's not just a company thing - the whole industry is this way. But it's fascinating and mind-blowing, to the point where I've started a spreadsheet with my own internal glossary, and I've stopped many a co-worker in mid-conversation to have them explain an acronym. Many of them have no idea that they're doing it, but it's part of the culture, so I feel that I better get with the program.

I relate the previous story because it plays so well with this story from WTN by Byron Glick on being an amicable technologist by watching your jargon and acronyms, in the interest of more effective communication with co-workers across all departments. There's a huge bonus with this article, in that it's the first article I can remember that uses pig Latin.

[via Wisconsin Technology Network - Echnology-tay Eak-spay]

Decker has a great story about "Rock and Sponge" today - the tale of two managers. Maybe if we all comment, Sam can get someone to turn this into a new "blog comic strip."

Richard Branson, the 48-year- old chairman of the London-based Virgin Group, has parlayed a lifelong disdain for conventional business wisdom into a $3.5 billion international conglomerate and one of the world's most powerful and recognizable brands. Under the ubiquitous Virgin banner, Mr. Branson has ventured into a panoply of businesses - from condoms to wedding gowns, from airlines to financial services - and in the process has taken on entrenched giants and wrested market share from them.

What's interesting about Branson's empire is that his highest paid person is Will Whitehorn, his public relations and communications director. "...If a negative story starts running away with itself in the press and is not dealt with fast, it can badly damage the brand. And so we put enormous weight on our public relations people."

[via Booz Allen & Hamilton's Strategy & Business]

ePrairie: Sending E-Mail Too Often? Pick Up the Phone First
A recent experience made me think of how many times I receive e-mails in business on subjects where people should actually be calling me, writes Barry Moltz.

ePrairie.com: Your Midwest Technology Office Romance Manual - By: Liz Ryan
This is pretty funny and oh so timely!

For Midwest technology workers whose thoughts are turning to that super-cute woman in accounting on this Valentine’s Day, here is your Midwest technology office romance primer. Pay attention! This stuff is important for your social life and your career trajectory.

This is priceless - from despair.com

In April 2001 the Market to Book Value of the S&P 500 was about six (for every $6 of value, $1 appeared on the balance sheets). At least part of the difference was intangibles. Brooking Institute's research suggested that in 2002, 15 percent of company value was based on tangible assets (compared to 62 percent in 1982), meaning 85 percent of the value resulted from intangibles.

http://www.titletown.org/FR/Articles11_21_03.htm#local

This article taken verbatim from the Sales & Marketing Management e-newsletter, which I could not find a copy of on the web to link to.

Managers are piling on so much work it's starting to pose a threat to the
economic recovery. A new study by ComPsych Corporation found that rising
workloads are leading to skyrocketing levels of worker stress. That stress
is so consuming, it's keeping many workers from performing at their best.

* One bit of good news: Interpersonal conflicts are not at the root of
worker unhappiness. Nearly 30 percent cited "people issues" as their
primary cause of stress-that's down 2 percent from earlier this year. And
just 16 percent cite work/family balance as the stressor-that's off a
significant 12 percent from the previous survey. Biggest jump in stress
creation: job insecurity. 13 percent cite it as a stress producer-that's
up 13 percent from the first quarter of 2003.

I swear that this will go down in history as something companies *wish* they had written proactive policies for.

The growing use of personal online diaries, or web logs, by workers has many employers concerned about the security of confidential information and how the web logs reflect on the corporate image, USA Today reports.

There are an estimated 1.2 million web logs, also known as blogs. (up from 500,00 this same time last year) However, few companies have developed official policies for blogs, which typically feature short commentary and links, according to the newspaper.

I'm not advocating the your company write a policy for everything, however, just as companies have written policies about cell phone usage in motor vehicles, especially if they have mobile workers, due to liability reasons, they should consider personal weblog policies for similar reasons.

Here's a few links - article coming this weekend. HUGE topic on planet Dana right now, and maybe on your planet too.

http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not_Invented_Here
http://www.ryanlowe.ca/blog/archives/000208.php
http://www.sobco.com/nww/1993/09-nih.html
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000007.html
http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?NotInventedHere
http://www.everything2.org/index.pl?node=Not%20Invented%20Here

I've always been a huge fan of Reader's Digest. They have this column every month on new vocabulary words that you can use to impress your family and friends - good stuff.

This month's Monster.com management newsletter had a similar article on some tips for improving your executive vocabulary at work, and during interviews. Here's a summary of the article.

- Subscribe to the Right Stuff
Read “up-market papers, not rubbish” to increase your vocabulary.

- Open Your Ears
If you pay close attention during meetings, seminars and conferences, you'll learn new words which you can take note of and look up back at the office.

- Make the Right Acquaintances
When you spend time with people who have superior vocabularies, their good habits can rub off on you; eloquence is infectious.

- Repeat, Repeat, Repeat
Repetition will help assimilate a word into your active vocabulary.

- Take a Greek or Latin Class
If you really want to take your understanding of the English language to a new level, you need to explore its roots, which lie largely in these two languages.

Trust me, the payoff is worth it.
Speaking as a "young executive", it is invaluable to know as much as you can about language at the highest levels. Many a business situation goes awry because of poor communication. The better you can express yourself and communicate with others, the better your business deals are going to go!

Five Tips to Invigorate Your Vocabulary

25 Executive Power Words

I just finished reading Halley Suitt's HBR Case Study on blogging in the September issue of the Harvard Business Review. I was so excited to finally get my copy & read the article because I know that many of the top execs at our company read this publication, and I can now go to yet another group of stakeholders and pitch the idea of blogging knowing they the topic has been covered in a publication that they respect. Really, I think that the HBR piece will only add to the credibility of blogging as a vehicle for corporate communication! HBR is a respected rag, and many discussions have ensued in our company as a result of something we've read in HBR.

While I'm on board with the ideas posed in the case study, and for being fictional, the case study does not stretch the truth in the least. Everything that Halley wrote could happen, or is happening in some company somewhere.

(You'll have to have read the piece for the copy below to make sense)

Personally, if I were the CEO in this situation, I would have used the Glove Girl example to develop a policy around personal websites or weblogs that mention the company or associate an employee's work on their own site with the business of their employer. I've not asked yet, but I'm betting that KI does not yet have a policy on weblogs, personal websites mentioning the company, or on corporate employees publishing works mentioning KI. Considering that I'm the "Internet Director" here, I'd better get w/ HR and start working on that little detail. I am very impressed by the Employee Guidelines for Personal Website and Weblogs that Groove Networks has posted on their site.

Further, I disagree with Erin Motameni's analysis when she said "By identifying herself as a Lancaster-Webb employee, she has probably cause other to believe mistakenly that she represents the company's official positions.” I think that’s a load of crap. Let’s consider the demographics here. Web users > Potential Customers > Someone savvy enough to find the weblog of an employee…. I think the odds are pretty slim that Glove Girl’s site could be mistaken for a corporate property or as the official position. But what do I know, stranger things have happened.

There was a point in the article where I would have fired the Glove Girl however. When someone posts potentially sensitive competitive or damaging information on a public website, before the company releases that information to the public (or does NOT WANT that information released to the public), I believe that a breach of confidentiality has occurred and reprimands should follow. However, as the story unfolds, the breach is rectified, but I am of the opinion that the breach should never have occurred.

All in all, a great piece! I truly hope that this piece helps elevate the level of discussion of weblogs within the corporation!

Last week I asked my employees to submit to my some ideas on what they'd like to see in terms of education and development for the upcoming year. I am an ardent supporter of continuing and lifelong education, especially for those of us in the technical realm.

Here are a few of the points that have been brought up so far. I’m fielding these ideas because I’m really curious where other companies/manager stand on continuing employee education and training. Is it promoted in your organization? Do you pay for it? Do employees take advantage of it??

Please comment!

1) Everyone should have the authority to purchase books to a level of $200 - $500 per year as long as they plan to read them or use them as reference material. They should purchase them when they want without prior approval and should expense them. They should know that they are the property of the company but they are allowed to keep them as long as they are employed.

2) We should encourage people to attend one-hour cyber seminars.

3) We should allow people to take e-learning type courses such as the one below. These tend to be in the $500 area and would require approval through the normal form via HR.

4) There needs to be a tie between the educational time and expenditure and their job (pretty obvious, but it needs to be stated).

5) People should expect to do most of their continuing education on their own time, but not all of it, because allowing them to train during work hours shows that the company is willing to invest in their knowledge. If management wants to invest, it will encourage them to invest even more in themselves.

6) Concentrated time should be given to people to do self-study. I see this as a 3-5 day activity once per year rather than miscellaneous time during certain times of the week. Miscellaneous time doesn't work well enough. It helps on short-term projects and incremental improvement, but not significant moves.

7) There needs to be a tie between the long term vision of the department and what people should be educated on. This way, you are spending education dollars on a likely-to-happen project. Sharing the vision is the first piece and asking what education each person needs to have to accomplish the vision is the second piece. Suggesting a course/book can be useful because people often don't know what they need.

8) Encourage management knowledge sharing. Pass around influential articles and books. This type of ‘executive knowledge sharing’ has a tremendous impact on getting employees focused on what management is focused on through the gentle nudge of reading an article on a pertinent topic. Subtle, but very effective in shaping perception and direction.